'Modern Family' star joins cast of Craig Johnson's indie comedy

Venture Forth is financing the comedy and producing with Duplass Brothers Prods. Johnson co-wrote the script with Mark Heyman.

Hader and his former “Saturday Night Live” cohort Kristen Wiig star as estranged twins Milo and Maggie, who coincidentally cheat death on the same day, prompting them to reunite and confront how their lives went so wrong. As the twins’ reunion reinvigorates them both, they realize the key to fixing their lives may lie in fixing their relationship with each other.

Luke Wilson co-stars as Wiig’s husband, while Burrell will play Hader’s former high school teacher and lover. His clandestine romance with Milo got him fired and led him to hide his sexual orientation, as he’s now a married and closeted book store clerk.

DBP exec Stephanie Langhoff will produce with Jennifer Lee and Jacob Pechenik, while Jay and Mark Duplass will exec produce with Jared Goldman. Production starts later this month in Gotham. ICM Partners packaged the project and will co-rep U.S. rights with UTA.

Burrell, who won an Emmy last year for his supporting perf on ABC’s hit sitcom “Modern Family,” recently appeared in the comedies “Butter” and “Goats.” He voices the title character in DreamWorks Animation’s “Mr. Peabody,” which Twentieth Century Fox will on Nov. 1, 2013. He’s also attached to co-star alongside John Hawkes in Daniel Schechter’s untitled adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s crime novel “The Switch.” Burrell is repped by ICM Partners and attorney Frank Stewart.